1. I get stressed

    I try not to complain about my job, because when you get down to it, I sit in a big comfortable chair all day. I get to drink tea, eat snacks and laugh with colleagues.  If I had of been unlucky enough to have been born 100 years ago, I’d probably be working in a coal mine. If I had of been unlucky enough to have been born in a third world county, I’d probably have been working in a sweat shop by the time I was 8. I’m aware of this, so I feel a bit guilty when I complain.

    But I get stressed. Really stressed.
    It brings on my asthma, it sends me running to the loo (unpleasant), it keeps me awake at night, it wakes me up at insanely early hours in the morning and then keeps me awake.

    I reduced a good portion of my stress a few years ago by using the GTD system, and while I’ve found it works well as a task management system, it fails to reduce stress & anxiety in a number of ways:

    1. Dealing with people. Power mad managers, obnoxious colleagues, backstabbing, and the general ugly politics of corporate life.

    2. Dealing with the unknown. I’ve been pushed into project managing software development lately. I’ve tried to convey to my boss that software development is a completely different world to IT Infrastructure, but he doesn’t want to know. Dealing with that daily uncertainty is grinding.

    3. Dealing with the public speaking. I host and run teleconferences with experts from all over the world, up to 20 people at a time. Some of them are too quiet, some are too pushy, some are determined to point out your errors on front of an audience. The anticipation of these calls is probably one of the worst stresses I face.

    4. Riding out the recession. Unemployment in Ireland is at 12% People are queuing in the street for hours, just for the opportunity to hand in a CV. “You’re so lucky you have a job” is a phrase I hear a lot. Looking for a new job is not an option, there simply are none.

    But contrary to how this probably reads, I’m not here to whine, I’m here for help. How do you deal with your stress?
    Yoga won’t cut it: I can’t sit on my desk and do the Bakāsana during a project review teleconference. Training is off the cards too, that’s been chopped from the budget. I’m sure I’m not alone in this problem, so have you any advice?

    November 19, 2009
    1. berezina answered: Try reading Marcus Aurelius. Also, if you owe the world anything, it’s your voice: play music. An audience of zero is fine.
    2. insertname answered: fure, lots and lots of cleansing fire…
    3. vb answered: i’ve come to the conclusion that you need to either find something outside “corporate” or become it completely. there is no middle.
    4. shadowfirebird answered: In same boat,but 1)I am not the job; who else am I? 2)Meditation 3)Exercise - in theory! 4)Planning: it always helps when there’s a plan B.
    5. theresalighton answered: Not pills! Short walks, fave music just before calls, and a nice treat after calls (self-rewards are soothing!). I feel your pain!
    6. creativematters answered: Move from Ireland.
    7. culturemulcher answered: I find riding a bike to work helps a lot. I managed to negotiate to do 40 hours in 4 days which gives me friday off. I work in IT also
    8. marco answered: 2. Everything’s unknown. Nobody really knows what they’re doing. Bullshit it. 3. Everyone’s a bad speaker. You’re probably better than most.
    9. un answered: Serenity for me is a product of learning to live life one day, one hour, one moment at a time.
    10. cvxn answered: Weed. (But that’s my answer for everything.) Or maybe clonazepam. Or a goldfish on yr desk? You could call it Odie.
    11. travors posted this